Dan's Blackbutt Roubo Bench #4: The Top: part 1

The next step in the project was to cut the laminates 4 1/2” x 100 x ~1 3/4”. I chose the sections with the best (ie. straight) grain for this. In retrospectoscope I should have thought – I need straight pieces for the long stretches, and which pieces do I want to have showing. Tricky fiddleback grain although attractive was very hard to work.

(Note: my old workbench in front of it.)

Here you can see I carefully planned sections for bench dog holes, space for the sliding leg vice, and space for wagon vice. This is a little innovation which saved me time and energy later.

All glued up. Titebond 3 and every clamp in the shop. I glued it up in sections of 3-4 and then two halves, flattening each section as I went. With the retrospectoscope I might have left the two halves separate. I debated this for a week or so… and then decided to glue it up. Did I make the right decision.